Method of manufacturing elastic lace braid



June 1-1, 1929..

o. E. HUBER 1,717,215

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING ELASTIC LACE, BRAID Filed Sept. 10; 1927 OH'o Eugene Hubr,

I v INVENTOR.

" ATTORNEYS.

Patented June I 11, 1929.

UNITED STATES 1,717,215- PATENT OFFICE.

OTTO EUGENE HUBER, OF READING, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE NARROW FABRIC (10., OF WEST READING, PENNSYLVANIA, A. CORPORATION OF PENNSYL- VANIA.

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING ELASTIC LACE BRAID.

Application filed September 10, 1927. Serial a... 218,642.

My invention relates to the manufacture of lace braided elastic fabrics, and more particularly to a new and improved method of braiding fabric of this nature, whereby the elastic strands are interbraided with the inelastic strands to secure the former against independent longitudinal movement creeping and permit improved ornamental design and open mesh'or lace effects. My improved fabric and its method of production are more fully described in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features thereof are specifically set forth in the appended claim.

Fig. 1 indicates an embodiment of my finished fabric in which the straight elastic strands are. unstrained and the inelastic transverse strands extend relaxedly between them.

Fig. 2 is a corresponding view, but indicating the elastic strands stretched as during the braiding operation, the crossing inelastic strands being correspondingly tauter than in the released fabric indicated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic showing of a portion of contiguous tellers or quoits forming the race way of a known lace braiding ma chine and conventionally indicating particularly the limited travel of the carriers having elastic strands within the path of travel of the carriers having inelastic strands.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the relation of the elastic and inelastic strands in process of braiding.

Braided elastic as heretofore made and largely marketed has been produced by introducing elastic or rubber strands as longitudinal warps extending through determined quoit axes so that they be loosely within the fabric of interbra-ided strands and are held against longitudinal displacement or creeping merely by the friction of the covering strands crossing above and below the same, such friction being insuflicient to retain in place any strand broken orparted by wear or sewing stitches.

My main object is to secure the elastic strands and make them an integral part of the braided fabric by interbraiding them with the inelastic strands; and to this end I employ a lace braiding machine with determined carriers having wound on their tensioned bobbins a supply of elastic strand or cord and arranged to travel in a limited raceway course within the main race-way course of other carriers having their bobbins supplied with inelastic strands or cords. For the purpose of the present description I have indicated a so-called single thread lace machine more clearly shown and described in U. S. Patent No. 979,770 issued December 27 1910, to Gustav Krenzler; and as embodyingv provisions for greater variations of travel of the carriers and making possible the preferred open-mesh lace-like elastic fabric indicated in Fig. 1. The operation of this machine is well known, a jacquard mechanism controlling the travel of the different carriers,'about one or more tellers or quoits, to form a finished fabric of closed or open lace-like mesh as determined by the setting of the jacquard mechanism.

Referring particularly to Fig. 3, 10 represents the top, plate of such known lace braiding machine, and 11, 11, the tellers or quoits which intermittently rotate under the control of the usual jacquard'mechanism, not shown, to traverse the carriers 12, 12 some of the latter being adapted to remain on one teller and merely rotating with it, others passing to adjacent tellers and back again, and still others traversing the whole series of tellers, all in well known manner and in accord with the pattern desired inthe finished product.

In producing the fabric indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, certain carriers 12 and 12 are shown as having bobbins supplied with elastic strands 15, 15 and these carriers have but a limited movement,12 merely reversing on its teller 11, while 12 moves back and forth on two adjacent tellers 11', 11', as clearly indicated in the drawings.

Such movements of speclal carriers 12, 12 1 being controlled by the acquard so as to avoid conflict with passing carriers 12, 12 and being confined to one or more contiguous race-circles as required for the passing through of determined carriers,'without materially affecting the relation of the extending elastic strands at the braiding point.

The other carriers 12, 12 are supplied with inelastic strands 16, 16 of any desired material as silk, cotton, linen or the like, and of any desired color or combination of colors, and are traversed as heretofore to form the braid pattern shown. In making this pattern the carriers 12, 12 interbraid or intertwine their strands with the strands of carriers 12 and 12 to engage the latter in the formation of the fabric and make them an integral part of the latter, locking them against independent longitudinal movement or creeping and holding them throughout their length so that intermediate breaks or partings do not affect the braid elasticity. And to insure the maximum of longitudinal elasticity in the finished braid with'minimum reduction in width of the fabric, I specially tension the elastic strands of carriers 12 and 12 so as to increase their length during the braiding operation and maintain them in a substantially straight line from their carriers to the braiding point; the inelastic strands 16, 16 of carriers 12, 12 yield freely the increased amount required to embrace and interengage with the tauted straight elastic strands. After being thus braided with the elastic strands tauted, the usual take-off mechanism, not shown, maintains this tauted relation only so far as to insure such intended relation of the several strands. When the braided fabric is removed from the machine the elastic strands at once retract to their normal unstretched length, reducing the length of the finished fabric and causing the inelastic strands to assume relaxed position between the elastic strands which latter maintain their straight longitudinal positions as there is no distorting strain thereon. The fabric thus produced may be readily stretched and relaxed without distortion of the lay of the braided strands, giving great flexibility in the finished product, and at the same time maintaining a firm union at all points throughout their lengths of the elastic and inelastic strands. And the design may be so arranged that while distorted in the braiding, it will assume the desired pleasing configuration and arrangement inthe unstretched finished fabric.

The stretching of the elastic strands 15, 15 during the braidin may be secured in any known manner, as by Winding such strands on the bobbins in a stretched condition, or preferably by setting the usual bobbin releasing supply tension for the proper stretch. And the elastic strands may be either bare rubber, or so-called gimp, or a covered rubber core having a braided tubular covering as best suited for the purpose.

While the showing of Figs. 1 and 2 indicate a preferred lace-like open mesh fabric, it will be readily understood that by a different manipulation of the jacquard mechanism other pattern designs may be secured, or aclosed mesh solid fabric if desired; the only essential being that the carrier supplying the elastic strands 15, 15 have such a short travel on the tellers that, when tauted during braiding, as indicated in Fig. 2, they will maintain a substantaially straight line from the moving carrier to the braiding point, and when unstretched in the normal fabric they will lie in such substantially longitudinal position with the inelastic strands interengaging them in relaxed relation, this position giving the maximum of elasticity with minimum distortion of the lay of the interbraided strands. In practice I have found that such maximum stretch of the fabric produces but slight reduction in the width of the fabric, which greatly enhances its usefulness for cer tain purposes, as garter and belt-elastic, as it avoids the uncomfortable width reduction of usual elastic into a narrow string-like structure that binds and irritates.

F urthermore the particular singlethread lace machine shown in the drawings, while best suited for the production of the fabric indicated, is not essential, as other lace machines well known as two-thread, threethread and the like are also suitable for the purpose, keeping in mind the longitudinal lay of the elastic strands and their interbraiding with other strands, as distinguishing from the old elastic formation in which the elastic strands are mere loose warps lying within and only held frictionally by the crossing strands.

What I claim is:

The improved method of manufacturing elastic lace-braid which consists in feeding stretched rubber strands from a series of bobbins which are traversed in determinedly limited portions of the race-circle course to form straight lengthwise strands, and simultaneously feeding inelastic strands from other bobbins freely traversed in the course so as to lace-braid their strands transversely with the tauted longitudinal strands and produce a stretched lace-braid adapted when released to relax substantially to the straight untauted length of the braided-in rubber strands with corresponding loosening of the interbraided inelastic strands.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

OTTO EUGENE HUBER. 

